


no grave can hold my body down

by syazzypanda



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Emotions, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, i am soft for these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:53:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24664909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syazzypanda/pseuds/syazzypanda
Summary: Alex finds Charlie after the riot.
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Alex Standall
Comments: 9
Kudos: 129





	no grave can hold my body down

**Author's Note:**

> Listen I hate-watched my way through most of the seasons and if you had told me I would be writing fic for 13rw a few years ago I would have laughed but Alex and Charlie?? Caleb and Tony?? Worth it. 
> 
> Title from Hozier's "Work Song" and really... if that doesn't show how whipped I am for these two...

Charlie was dead. Or at least he was dying. He had to be.

The last thing he remembered was seeing a swarm of police around Clay. He had dove straight between them, never mind that he was outnumbered, never mind that the police were in _full riot gear to confront a bunch of unarmed teenagers_ , but he saw Clay on the ground and knew that he had to do something.

Should he have thought things through? Maybe. But in the moment all he knew was that Clay was in trouble, and that he wouldn’t forgive himself if he at least didn’t try.

And try he did. Maybe in an ideal world the police would have considered other options instead of striking him straight at the back of the head, but the last thing he saw was the road rushing up towards his face as his vision went black.

Charlie was dying. He had to be. The back of his head was on fire and he squeezed his eyes shut to swallow the wave of nausea building at the back of his throat. There were hands on him though, anxious, frantic hands shaking him by the front of his shirt, warm hands cupping his face and a voice--now he was sure he was dying and his brain had started conjuring sounds to comfort him as he passed on to the other side, because the voice sounded like Alex. And he was screaming his name, begging him to wake up.

Charlie focused on that. Alex’s voice, and--what he hoped?--were his hands on his face. Sensation came back in pieces. He felt the warm asphalt against his skin, heard the cacophony of screams and alarms going off in the background. There was too much to take in at once, but when he finally, finally, forced his eyes open--only to instantly regret it from the searing pain that shot through the back of his eyeballs--there was Alex, his ashen face swimming into focus above him.

The other boy’s own eyes were red as if he had been crying. Charlie wanted to reach for him, to wipe his tears away and promise to do everything in his power to not make Alex cry like that ever again. He wanted to comfort him. Instead, the sound that came from the back of his throat was a low groan as he gazed blearily up at the boy whose smile and bright eyes he had dreamed of more often than he would like to admit over the past few months.

“Holy fuck, Charlie,” Alex’s voice was strangled even as his shoulders sank with relief, his hands still cupped around Charlie’s face.

Charlie frantically tried to push himself into a sitting position because _he could not let Alex look at him with so much despair no no no_ but instead was met with a firm yet gentle pressure against his chest, keeping him on the ground. “You hit your head pretty bad, just stay still. There’s paramedics on their way.”

His face was closer now, and Charlie wanted so badly to kiss him right there. But Alex had told him to stay still so he just gazed up at him, his heartbeat so loud in his ears that he imagined Alex could feel it under his fingertips. Alex must have felt his hummingbird heartbeat flutter when the he pressed his lips against Charlie's forehead. “I need you to stay awake for me, okay Charlie?”

Charlie wanted to tell him that he would do anything for him, that the shape of his name from Alex’s mouth was the sweetest sound that he wanted to spend the rest of his life hearing.

He would stay alive for that. He would fight to stay alive for that.


End file.
